Tustin, CA Landscaping Rules: Grass Height Limits (2026)

Unlike many cities that fix a maximum lawn height (such as 6 or 12 inches), the City of Tustin regulates lawns and landscaping through a condition-based property-maintenance standard rather than a measured height. Tustin City Code Chapter 5 of Article 5 (Property Maintenance and Nuisance Abatement) declares it a public nuisance to keep property in a manner that fails minimum maintenance. Section 5502(m)(1) states: 'All landscaping shall be maintained in a condition free of dead, decayed, overgrown or discarded plant material.' That same subsection adds that during any declared Water Conservation Level under Chapter 10 of Article 4, 'it shall be acceptable to allow lawns and other live turf to go dormant,' but all other dead, decayed, overgrown or discarded plant material must still be removed. Enforcement runs through Section 5503, which lets a code enforcement officer issue a written notice and order to abate; if the owner does not comply, the City may abate the nuisance and bill the owner under Section 5505, including administrative and inspection costs. Code Enforcement assigns cases by area (north or south of the I-5). Because Tustin does not publish a grass-height number, what counts as 'overgrown' is judged case by case by the enforcement officer.